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Steve Wexler is one of the top brass at Journal Broadcast Group and he's the station manager for WTMJ-AM 620, WLKE-FM 94.5, and WTMJ TV 4.1. He's the fellow who completely dismantled WKTI-FM and fired the great staff that station had, and he turned over the entire staff at WTMJ-AM.

The Internet is only the future if you can afford a really high download Internet speed. Many people are subscribing to ATT DSL or Time Warner Internet which is not really fast enough for streaming video or downloading movies. As the Communications Workers of America keep pointing out, the United States has one of the slowest average Internet speeds of developed nations, and we pay on average the highest monthly fees for the privilege of an Internet connection. Then there are those in rural areas who's only choice for Internet is dial up over phone lines (yes dial up still exists), a slow connection via a satellite dish, or a variable speed connection from a cell phone provider such as a "jet pack hotspot device" from Verizon Wireless.

JRW....many of the people with the slower internet connection and can't afford to upgrade also have cable TV, phone and/or mobile device from AT&T or TW. I used to have all of those. I found a home phone provider for $4/month, got a $60 antenna that I put in my attic and a Tivo (for DVR functionality), and upped my internet speed. The most expensive part was that Tivo and the lifetime service, but for what I was paying AT&T for cable TV it paid for itself in 6 months.You are right though that some locations the options are limited, but for most in the Milwaukee area the only thing stopping people from saving money is themselves.

facts: Elaborate on that process, please. TWC never fails to irritate me on a daily basis. As for TMJ, their newscasts are so biased, it makes it virtually impossible to lend the station or its reporters any credence whatsoever. The "cop stealing money" story sealed it for me. Thanks, facts.

TMJ4 has changed under Wexler, and not for the better. I am tired of their impromptu editorials, and politically motivated 'investigative' reporting. It has become an entertainment program rather than a news program. The rant radio influence on the station is painfully obvious.

Agreed. Before Wexler TMJ4 was the best news operation in Milwaukee. Their news is now a about hype sensational reporting. Did channel 4 come clean about the cop they accused of taking money on Water Street yet? NOPE!

The broadcast networks -- NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW, MyTV, -- all have revenue sharing contracts with their affiliates like WTMJ_TV 4.1. However, as more viewers have shifted to watching programs on cable channels like USA, Lifetime, ESPN, etc. fewer eyeballs are watching broadcast networks. This shows in Nielson ratings. As a result, the amount of revenue affiliates -- WTMJ-TV, WISN-TV, WITI_TV, etc. -- receive has been falling over the past 15-plus years. Until local broadcasters started charging cable and satellite providers, the only other source of revenue local broadcast TV stations had was advertising. Local broadcasters saw how successful ESPN, Lifetime, CNN, Discovery, etc. were not only via selling advertising, but also charging cable systems a monthly per-subscriber fee. Originally local broadcasters were opting for "must carry" rules with cable systems. However, under "must carry" local broadcast stations cannot charge a monthly fee. So now local broadcast TV stations want a source of the enormous revenues they claim cable systems receive from subscribers.

Great explanation! I bet you could tell us why cable companies exist at all....why can't we use an antennae for all stations? Like AMC? I do like that a lot off cable stations have apps now so I can watch them on my tablet.

"an average monthly cable bill costs the same as 58-and-a-half cups of coffee. But a local television station like" WTMJ "only receives the amount of money equivalent to half a cup of coffee."

And there are more than 117 channels so it appears you're getting far more than your fair share. Demand to go ala-carte and then charge whatever you want. There's probably someone out there with more money than they know what to do with who wants to see the same newscast five times in a row followed by a bunch of reality shows and then a repeat of that same newscast.

If you want to watch NBC, CBS, ABC or Fox all you have to do is connect your TV to either an outdoor antenna or to an indoor antenna. Thus it costs nothing to watch broadcast TV. However, if I want to watch CNN, ESPN, Lifetime, Discovery or even Milwaukee Brewers games, I have to subscribe to either Time Warner Cable, ATT U-Verse, Dish or Direct TV.

Because the OTA people have the politicians scared and stack the deck against the consumers. If I don't like the service from a Burger King in Milwaukee I can buy one in Tosa Dish, Direct TV, Uverse, TW and Charter can't do that with NBC.

You both have interesting points. On the one hand, the fact that the broadcasters are broadcasting (ie giving away their programming for free) creates sort of a loophole that at least in theory allows people to get around paying these fees. The cable companies should allow people to exploit this loophole by putting all local broadcasters on their own tier and letting anyone that wants hook an antenna into their cable box and avoid paying for that tier.

But the second point is interesting and I think about it every time there's a weather "emergency" in the area. Why can't TWC or any viewer for that matter get NBC from someone other than WTMJ? They essentially have been given a local monopoly on that programming. They take it, add some junky local news that I would never want to watch let alone pay for, and sell it to us via the cable companies. They're a useless middle man extracting undue rents.